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| May watched the bridge being built from her studio window. |
From the moment we stepped onto the ferry from Circular Quay we entered another world as the sun glittered off the harbour. We docked at the ornate arts and crafts gateway of Neutral Bay Wharf and wandered past a miniature beach strewn with little boats and on towards the former home of author and illustrator May Gibbs. Nutcote has been famously restored and is staffed by the Friends of Nutcote.
Those generous and charming women welcomed my children and I in between tour groups and we had the place to ourselves on a sunny Sydney morning. They let my children dress up in gum nut baby attire and we went exploring. The garden is divine and starts to reveal some of the sources of May's inspiration and whimsy. I particularly loved the trumpet-like creamy brugmansia plant which flanked the path down towards the harbour.
Inside her house everything has been restored and retained as a museum of her adventurous and somewhat unconventional life of creative endeavour. The exquisite dark wood joinery inside oozes the charm of the era. The house itself is a departure from the surrounding arts and crafts style and is Italianate in design. She briefed BJ Waterhouse to design a home with compactness and charm and her studio is central to the floor plan. Her illustrations sit in the studio as if she'd just got up for cup of tea from her tiny little kitchen which is compact but functional. The adjoining dining room is set with exquisite deep blue porcelain tableware.
Photos adorn the house including holiday snaps of May setting off with her husband in the car to a tiny little village - of all places - in the Canberra region - one of their regular camping jaunts in the Dodge with their much-loved Scottish terriers.
We became big fans of The Complete Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie after our visit. Despite the cuteness of the iconic imagery the stories of the gumnut babies are quite dark as they deal with the dastardly Banksia men and my children were fascinated for quite some time.
Nutcote truly is a place of enchantment and heritage and I will never forget that perfect day.
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| My own Gumnut babes in front of Nutcote. |
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| Wysteria hysteria, marry gold...literary witticisms abound |
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| The garden of Nutcote is full of whimsy. |
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